returns

The false goal of maximizing investment returns

Posted 48 weeks 6 days ago by Philip Brewer

Along about the middle of the dot-com boom--when the market had already had two years of 20% annual gains--I read an article that suggested that individual investors had no need of a cash reserve, because they could use credit cards in an emergency. As I explained in my article about the credit squeeze , I think keeping a cash reserve is especially important right now, but I mention this article because I think it highlights a fundamental distinction in the way people think about investment returns.

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Can't Afford to Pay the IRS?

Posted 1 year ago by Troy Hadley

Filed Under: Taxes

Even though I have a couple of extra days to file my tax returns this year, I won't be able to come up with enough to pay the IRS what I owe.

The age old question about paying now or later came to a head for me this year, when I chose the "pay later, and invest your money in a high-interest savings account in the meantime" strategy, but forgot to actually save the money. So, I owe Uncle Sam a few grand. Only I don't have a few grand.

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Customer Service Nightmares - What's a Good Consumerist to Do?

Posted 1 year ago by Andrea Dickson

Filed Under: Consumer Affairs

I love the web site Consumerist.com (motto: Shoppers Bite Back). They provide some great money-saving ideas, funny advice on how to get away with things that you didn't even know you could, and good commentary on consumerist culture.

In addition, Consumerist offers some great customer-provided stories about companies jilting customers, and they offer the customer the best revenge - public venting of their experience. Better than a rant/rave on craigslist.org, the stories at Consumerist are mind-boggling. The kind of bullying that goes down at retailers both big and small, online and brick-and-mortar, are often laugh-out-loud funny.

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Special holiday return policies of popular stores

Posted 1 year ago by Will Chen

Filed Under: Shopping

Consumer World compiled a great list of the special holiday return policies of some of the most popular stores such as Amazon, Best Buy, Toys R Us, Wal-Mart, Kohl's, Target, Costco, etc.

Consumer World is run by Edwgar Dworsky, a highly respected consumer rights attorney. It is pretty sweet having an attorney read the return policy fine print for you, but I advise you to use the chart only as a general guide. Make sure you check out these policies for yourself before making a return or purchase.

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